Hadley Technical High School - Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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pomted out that Boald Membexs would come back from such '1 toul of lnspectlon wlth deflmte knowledge of what was belng accompllshed ID NOCHIIOHHI and tech nlcal CCILICHIIOH that such knowledge could not be galned by leadmg repoxts of OIh9lS but actual lnspec tion of the school plants and of thelr operatlon and equlp ment w as necessaly VYIIIIOLII such NISIIS wlthout such first hand knowledge the Board Members could base the11 actlon only upon behef and faith in the lecommen datlon of others aftel such XISIIS of lnspectlon know l dge and Judgment would be added to falth and behef III the lecommendatlons made Pax oxable actlon upon these recommendatlons was later taken and ln January 1929 a group of Board Mem bers and other school ofhcxals VlSlt9d Toronto PIIIS burgh Cleveland and Detrolt 1l'lSp6CtlDg the technlcal schools and confeulng wxth school officlals brlngmg back for the 1nfo1mat1on of other members of the Board the lesult of the1r lnvestlgatlons Vlslts of xnspectlon were made latex by others untll exely membel of the Board had studled the vocatlonal schools of othel c1t1es We school people hold our s mlnars oul schools of o11 mal ICSC'1ICh ln a pa1t1cula1 l1n and make QXDOSI t1on of the lesults ln learned theses and lectu1es and we take great Cledlt to ourselves for havlng done 1t But I f1u1tful of lesults to the educatlonal ne e ds of the St Louxs Publlc School Systems was ever held ln the Clty than that partlclpated ln by the members of the Board of Educatlon each lndlxldual of them ln the studv of vocatlonal educatlon ln the C1tl9S vlslted It w as educa txonal research IYIIDOIIHIII m charactf-1 a n d frultful of b neficlal lesults Yeals ago ln Chlcago I heard that d1StlllUlllShCd Enellshman Matth w Arnold say That alm of educa tlon IS the gettlng to know ln all matters w h1Ch cone rr us the best w hlch has been thought and done 111 th c world and through thls knowledge turnlng a stream of fl9Sll and free thought upon out own stock notlons and hablts In thelr 8ffO1tS to 'lcqualnt thems lx es x nth the best that w as belng thought and done ln xocatlonal edu catxon the Members of the Boald w ele ln full accold Wlth the t1u 'um of educatlon Aftel 1etu1n1ng flom the tou1 of lnspeetlon whlch mcluded XISIIS to the Central Techmcal School of Toronto the Cass Techmcal School of D IIOII and othcls of a less COUIDFGIIGHSIVQ plan than those two not wolthy schools, Membels of the Board became COIIXIIICQCI that '1 uccessful xocatlonal school would dlffer wldely from the tladltlonal procedules of conventlonal practlces of the . . z v Y . I . y y . - 1, a 9 ' - 1 ' , . 1 V 9 . v . . . X , . v l 1 - v ' Y - y , . v . . . 1 L, ' v I 1 1 0 . Q N' V x.g. I C 1 . , . D . ey .- 1 ' a : v wish here to emphasize the truth, that no seminar more . I y . 1 . V, . e ' ' . 1 . . Y : . D . 1 ' 0 Y ' H . - D , v , . I ' ' ' 4 ' e f 1 v ' ' Y I - ' e 1 ' ' . . fn. 1 . . 0 y . px Y V I ' C - ' e ' v v' L

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To have a share ln laylng the corne1 stone of an 1mportant publlc blllldlllg such as th1s dQd1C3t9d to the educatlon of the youth of th1s c1ty destlned to outlast all even the youngest who are assembled here today IS lndeed a prlvllege and an honor Speak1ng 1n my capac 1ty as prlnclpal of the Hadley Vocatlonal School and speaklng ln the name of the facultv and of the students who ln the years to come are to occupy th1s bulldxng I w1sh to pay trlbute of pralse to those who have made thls bulldlng pOSSlbl9 Speaklng as a professlonal school man I w1sh to t6StlfV that the xmportant 1n1t1atory steps ln creatlng thls vocatlonal school as vxell as the construe t1ve measul es to 1tS development and adequate housing have been taken by laymen by Members of the Board of Educatlon representlng the c1t1zens of St Louxs The need for a school of a vocatlonal type even the manner ln xx h1ch the first admlnlstratxve steps should be taken found first publlc expresslon 1n the utterances of the Members of the Board of Educatlon vxho xvere quoted ln the columns of the Globe Democrat 1n Novem ber 1926 The Superlntendent of Instruct1on took advan tage of the favorable attltude of the Board toxx ards thls nevx type of school and gave It hls officlal approval and the recommendatlon fo1 actlon Wh1Ch was taken Decem bel 14 1926 The program 1n your hands presents a brlef of today Some lmportant facts hovx ever should be add ed to complete the record The Central Hlgh School bulldlng housed txxo separ ate d1st1nct school organlzatlons the Central Hlgh School student body and the X70CHt1Ol'l21l School when the bulld mg xx as damaged by the to1 nado 1n September 1927 At 1tS meetlng on February 14 1928 the Board of Educatlon d11CCl6d that the Central Hlgh School bu1ld1ng should be to1 n doxxn and rebullt on the school Slte then 1n control of the Board but wlth Sp8C1f1C understandlne that It xx as to be rebullt xx 1th vocatlonal and technlcal accommoda tlons especlally 1n mlnd The Commlssloner of School Bulldlnvs and the Prlnclpal of thc Vocatlonal School xx elc sent upon an offlclal tou1 of lnspectlon of the best vocatlonal and technlcal schools of the country They V1Slt9d Denvel Omaha Mllxxaukee Chlcago Detrolt Toronto Buffalo Plttsburgh Phlladelphla and the Vo catlonal Schools of Essex County New Jersey Thelr re ports submltted 1n March 1928 made recommendatlons to the effect that membexs of the Board of Educatlon and other school OfflClalS should v1s1t certaln C1tl9S xxhere the best vocatlonal schools xvere 1n operatlon so that they m1ght learn by observatlon the best that was bemg done ln other pubhc school systems Thelr reports Remarks of Mr T E Spencer Prmclpal of the Hadley Vocational School, at the Cornerstone, November 29, I93O Y . .L . , . 7 7 1 V ' V Y x .L . . , . 1 . , . . . 7 - 1 i . . v , . . V . 7 . . . . 5 . 7 y 0 0 1 - - 1 7 . . 7 g . . . X . 1 . . - , . 1 , . . . L . . sketch of successive steps leading up to the ceremonies Laying of the - . v 7 1 ' . . . V - , , , , - - v v . Y ' V ' Y . . . . . 7 1 ta ' . V. ,, . . - . . . . I . C, l ' ,Y ! l v ! . ! . ! Y Y . Y . I Y - v ' ' ! V Y

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academic or cosmopolitan hlgh schools because lt would differ in fundamental aim Hence it could not be success ful lf conducted as a part of any one of our academic high schools They saw that a separate bulldlng with dlfferenr equipment a carefully selected corps of teachers d1f ferent curricula closer correlations of its aCtlVlt19S wlth the live occupatlons of the business world are essential to 1tS success that the related technical studies and ex perlments designed to give vocational results must be effected upon foundations of knowledge ideals and hab its that can be acquired only through experiences in the vital phases of the occupations themselves They saw that employers and others in charge of 1ndustr1al and com mercial organizations must be called upon to assist the school in devising and in carrylng out programs of voca tional training if the programs were to be effective Reallzing this they says clearly that the plans foi electing a comprehensive building of this type could not be carried out on the old Central High School site alone As a result the property fronting on Bell Avenue west of Channing was purchased and added to the old Central High School site The purchase of this additional ground was not made in the usual way It was not made upon recommendation of the officials of the Board who con acldltlonal ground came as a lesult of conferences and discussions by the Board Members themselves in the Committee of the Whole and was the direct result of their observation anfl study of housing accommodations fo1 vocational education ln other cities With the additional p1 operty added to the original site of the old Central High School the Commissioner of School Buildings was directed to proceed with the prep aration of plans for a school building with vocat1onal and technical accommodatlons chiefly in mind The structure was to front on Grand Avenue with its shop umts front Inv on Bell and Channing It was to contain a commo dious auditorium, larger than any other under control of the Board The building was to be erected unit by unit and ln such way that it could be readllv adapted to new and unforseen needs in the Held of vocat1onal education The entire edifice was planned to be flexible so that it might be converted and reconveited to serve the future changing educational needs of a changing 1ndustr1al xx orld These plans are being carried out in the erection of that part of the building now under construction What is the educational philosophy underlying this school? It has never been ofliciallv formulated or ex pressed in words As I understand its expression in the . Y , . - Y 3 . . 1 s v ' . 1 ' 7 v 7 A - v Y 1 7 stitute the Sites Committee. The decision to purchase this r ' ' 1 7 Y U 1 . . 7 . . g w C . . . - . . V . - C, . ' i